WPIAL champion Knoch rallies past Elizabeth Forward in opening round of PIAA volleyball playoffs

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 | 11:21 PM

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With the gym buzzing with noise and the threat of being pushed to a fifth set by an energetic and upset-minded Elizabeth Forward on the horizon, Knoch summoned the moxie needed of a team that had won 46 matches in a row.

When it came down to crunch time, the Knights made the necessary moves to escape.

After fending off set point in the fourth twice, Knoch got a kill from Kate McCarty and a block by Hannah Rowe to close out the set and earn a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the Warriors in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA girls volleyball playoffs Tuesday at North Catholic.

“We’re happy to get out of here with a win,” Knoch coach Diane Geist said. “We expected that they would be pretty tough. When you play a good team like that, they can come in waves. They pushed back. You have to give them credit for hanging in there.”

Knoch (23-0), the defending PIAA champion, advanced to play Dover, the third-place team out of District 3, in the quarterfinals Saturday at a site and time to be announced. Elizabeth Forward was making its first PIAA appearance and finished 13-6.

After Elizabeth Forward took a thrilling first set 28-26, Knoch rebounded with 25-20, 25-12, 29-27 wins.

Fresh off winning its second consecutive WPIAL championship Saturday, Knoch was pushed to the edge by the Warriors for most of the match, especially in the first and fourth sets.

Two kills from Kennedy Christy kept Knoch alive in the fourth when Elizabeth Forward was serving for set point. McCarty had a soft tip over the net that gave the Knights a 28-27 lead and Rowe rose up to the net to thwart a kill attempt to end it.

“We did a good job of keeping calm,” Knoch setter Kerrie Fitzpatrick said. “In the huddle we said we don’t want anything to hit the floor, but at the same time we didn’t want to freak out. Our saying is ‘Get back to basics.’ That’s what we did, and we pulled through.”

Knoch led by as many as seven in the first set, but saw the Warriors rally and got a glimpse of how tough of an out they’d be. Two kills by Leah Fournier, two aces by Amelia Vuick and a kill by Brianna Spirnak sparked a 5-0 run that got the Warriors back into the set, and then they took the lead on a block by Kaitlin Fournier. Elizabeth Forward needed a trio of opportunities to close out Knoch, but the third time was the charm. A hitting error by the Knights gave the Warriors the win.

“It was an extremely good first set,” Elizabeth Forward coach Kameron Smith said. “I think we blocked so well in that first set that we slowed down their big hitters. That didn’t show up as much in the second and third sets. At the end of the fourth set it came back. That was the difference. When we were coming back or winning we were blocking well. They have some really good hitters.”

One of the messages Geist relayed to her team all match was about trusting teammates and their individual abilities. Elizabeth Forward made them uncomfortable at times, but she was happy with the response her team showed in the face of adversity.

“Our trust was definitely tested tonight, especially when we lost the first set,” Geist said. “When you’re up by several points and then they come back to beat you, that’s tough. This team has a lot of grit though. To lose the first set and then come back and win the next three, especially that last one, says a lot about this team.”

Knoch led the entire way through a difficult second. Kills from Christy and Skye Burkett closed it out.

A 10-0 run in the third, helped Knoch cruise to victory.

“Their block probably challenged us the most, but we started to hit around it,” Fitzpatrick said. “They got some kills in the first game, but after that we started to read it. Coach told us their big girls were going to hit down, so we all took a step in, and if they went deep then we would adjust. We did a good job with our communication and adjustments.”

Rowe and Christy had 14 kills apiece. Rowe finished with seven blocks. Leah Fournier had a dozen kills for Elizabeth Forward.

Smith was proud of the way his team battled the defending state champions.

“From what I’ve seen in the scores, this was the closest match Knoch has played against anybody all season,” Smith said. “Central Valley won a set off them twice, but the other three weren’t really that close. Outside of the third set, we pushed them to the limit every single time.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Elizabeth Forward, Knoch